Even with a healthy appreciation for the arts and a career that puts me in close proximity to them — not to mention a cousin who’s an accomplished professional ballerina — I can’t say I clamor for a night at the ballet.

Happiness is... a warm cheese sandwich.

One of the many things I love about Thanksgiving is the continuity of the menu across generations and regions.

Weeknight cooking is all about getting gobs of flavor from just a few ingredients, no special techniques and as little effort as possible.

Weeknight cooking is all about getting gobs of flavor from just a few ingredients, no special techniques and as little effort as possible.

Plenty of people surely will disagree, but I firmly believe that underdressed hot dogs simply aren’t worth the calories.

Plenty of people surely will disagree, but I firmly believe that underdressed hot dogs simply aren't worth the calories.

Nearly 30 chefs will offer foods from roast duck with cherry and fig chutney to panna cotta and cake pops at an event celebrating Arizona women in the culinary arts.

Here are some ideas to consider pursuing with the juicy, sweet fruit.

Praise the buns, but ditch the dogs this Memorial Day. The hot dogs, that is.

“How do you like the chocolate mousse?” the server asks. I look up, a bit startled. My mind had been wandering, considering my afternoon schedule after lunch, but now it returns to the half-eaten dessert before me.

Has it really been three years since Romeo’s Euro Café moved to downtown Gilbert? For more than a decade, I regularly stopped by its former strip mall location just north of Mesa’s Fiesta Mall to gorge myself on chef Romeo Taus’ pita sandwiches.

We’re used to casual dining in the East Valley, and with the recent opening of Bonefish Grill, we now have a “polished casual seafood restaurant,” which is how the creators of Bonefish describe their dining concept.

If variety is the spice of life, one could hardly ask for a spicier lunchtime dining concept than the venerable Indian buffet. Tangy chutneys. Rich, savory masalas. Sturdy, unpresumptuous tandooris.

When it comes to cuisine, there’s maybe nothing more basic — or more characteristically American — than the hamburger. Yet East Valley restaurants that serve up a truly memorable burger are, sadly, few and far between.

Don’t talk about leftovers to Judy Toth. The chef, caterer and owner of Simply Impressive Cooking School, located inside her northeast Mesa home, never sends her husband to work with a cold scoop of last night’s dinner between two slices of bread.

Cherry recipes, apparently, are like heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation. At least, that seems to be the case based on entries to The Tribune’s Cherry Recipe contest.

Cherry recipes, apparently, are like heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation. At least, that seems to be the case based on entries to The Tribune’s Cherry Recipe contest.

There’s a trick to eating a peach straight off the tree. Carrie Schnepf demonstrates. "Twist it. Bend over. Take a bite. And the juice runs down your arm. Or on your shirt," says the co-owner of Schnepf Farms, where six peach varieties are ripening into what local producers say is the most resplendent crop in many years.

May 11, 2005